


Familiar

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21697387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: Abigail Hobbs starts to guess some of her surrogate father’s ulterior motives in adopting her, in order to get close to her other surrogate father.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 69





	Familiar

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before Abigail’s faked death, after the dinner party at Hannibal’s involving Will, Freddie, and Abigail. I don’t own Hannibal but for the past several months, it has owned me.

As always, when Abigail visited, she circled Hannibal Lecter’s office with a nervous energy, almost sniffing at the air. 

“Jack Crawford was here, wasn’t he?” She glanced at Hannibal. “Why was he visiting?”

“It’s good to stay close to the F.B.I., all things considered.” Hannibal picked up a glass, preparing to fill it with a little wine. Abigail Hobbs might be young, but he’d had his first when he was much younger. One should start developing one’s palette as soon as possible. “Besides, Jack is an entertaining and informative dinner guest.”

“Is he that useful a source of information?” Abigail gazed up with bright, fearful, yet bold eyes. Daring to speak the truth in spite of her apprehension. They were a lot like Will’s in that moment. “What’s it like? Having dinner with someone you always have to lie to?”

“Every dinner guest is unique.” Hannibal glanced at Abigail’s hands, fidgeting with anything in reach, her sweater, the arm of her seat. “Dining with Jack Crawford is special just as dining with you is special. He and I share an interest, which we often discuss.”

“You mean Will.” Abigail glanced down at a statue of a stag, one Will had often been mesmerized by. Sometimes Hannibal had often gotten a whiff of the visions it generated within the younger man’s lush imagination, stirring symbols which whirled around him, the mystery Hannibal Lecter presented, yet Will could not yet see. It was alluring as so much about Will Graham was alluring. 

“He’s your shared interest.” Abigail gazed at him with that intuitive sharpness which flared up in her from time to time. The F.B.I. would have as much as an advantage as Hannibal Lecter would in adding her to their ranks. “Just like I’m your shared interest with Will.”

“Yes.” Hannibal decided to reward his clever girl with the truth. “He’s brought us together in this complicated, yet fascinating situation.”

“You’re enjoying it.” Abigail studied the deer in the same absorbed fashion Will often had. “You’re playing with all of us.”

“It doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, for all I love to play.” Hannibal offered Abigail a sideways smile.

“Is that a secret?” Abigail ran her fingers along the stag’s figure. “The F.B.I., Will, myself, we all serve your interests. Maybe you care, but I sometimes think you just want Will all to yourself.” She smiled a little. “Just like my father wanted me to himself. Is that creepy?”

“What’s creepy to one person is normal to another.” He touched Abigail’s face. “Do you find it creepy?”

“No. It’s oddly…reassuring.” She cocked her head to one side, bringing back a memory of Mischa in a similar attitude. “It’s familiar.”

Hannibal Lecter smiled in return. Abigail Hobbs was coming around nicely, for all her doubts about him. 

If only he could be certain about Will Graham. Will was far more skittish, far more likely to flee if Hannibal made any ill-calculated moves. This forced Hannibal Lecter to be more cautious than usual, paying especial attention to the little dance he was engaged in with Will Graham. 

This made the dance all the more challenging, making Hannibal crave his partner’s company all the more. Hannibal Lecter wasn’t sure if he’d ever wanted anything or anybody in his life as badly as he wanted Will Graham. It made him want to test the strength of his own passion, along with the object of that passion. 

Only he couldn’t do unto Will what he did with everyone and anyone else who engaged his obsessive interest. Will Graham deserved time and patience. Common sense dictated that should include an ending that truly served Hannibal Lecter’s interest. Common sense dictated that he should destroy this man before Will Graham destroyed him. This gifted and tantalizing man was a threat to the double-life he lived in Baltimore, of hunting and engaging in the culinary arts balanced with psychiatric practice and all the other arts which absorbed him. 

Will Graham could also be the perfect partner for that life, someone who could keep time with his own steps as both a friend and an enemy. How could Hannibal Lecter resist him? Why would he want to? 

Common sense was, after all, for commoners. 

“Are you in love with Will?”

This direct question distracted Hannibal from his train of thought, bringing him back to the present, to Abigail. She watched him with a little half-smile he himself might have worn from time to time. It reminded him that Abigail Hobbs might be wounded and vulnerable, but she was no innocent. This was a girl who’d hunted with her father. This was a girl was becoming Hannibal Lecter’s daughter as much as she was Garrett Jacob Hobbs. 

“Why do you ask?” He side-stepped the direct question with a response every therapist had in their arsenal. 

“Have you read Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice? It was one of my mom’s favourite books.” Abigail didn’t wait for his response. “Lestat turns a little girl, Claudia, into a vampire child. He does this in order to keep the protagonist, a vampire named Louis close to him. Lestat and Louis become Claudia’s fathers.” She began to pace the room with the nervous energy she often displayed, an energy she shared with Will. Neither of them were entirely comfortable in Hannibal’s office. They’d rather be running outdoors, out in the open, than trapped within his walls. 

At least they weren’t running away from Hannibal. Not anymore. 

“I wonder if you didn’t become my guardian, encouraging Will to do the same for similar reasons.” Abigail met his gaze with her direct blue one. “If doing so wasn’t a way to bring Will close to you.”

“I know exactly what you’re referring to.” Hannibal moved closer to Abigail, reaching out to touch her cheek. “Whatever his motives were, Lestat came to love Claudia as did Louis. We care about you, Abigail. We’re your guardians because we care.” Again he met her eye. “Never doubt that.”

“At least you’re not denying your motives in adopting me.” Abigail tossed her head, but she still smiled. 

As always, Hannibal Lecter smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a certain sad symmetry between the connection Abigail makes between herself and Claudia, considering both their fates. Hannibal's reaction is even similar to Lestat's, he rides around a city, on a motorcycle, looking for prey. All right, one city was Paris and the other was New Orleans, plus Lestat waited a century before doing so, but still the similarity struck me. (wry grin)


End file.
